Treasury budget would focus on IRS, small businesses, underserved areas

The White House’s proposed 2015 budget would provide $13.8 billion to the Treasury Department, representing a slight downgrade of about 1.6 percent compared to the spending level for this year.

Most of the funding, $12 billion, would go toward the Internal Revenue Service, boosting the agency’s budget by 6.3 percent compared to 2014. President Obama’s proposals included $165 million for an initiative that partly aims to help call centers boost their response rates from 60 to 80 percent, as well as $480 million to support additional tax enforcement and compliance functions.

The budget blueprint also calls for $1.5 billion to help spur lending for small businesses, $225 million for a fund to encourage job growth and healthier communities in underserved areas and plans for assessing the production and use of coins, including the penny.